Hush Now, Saintess!

Chapter 15

〈 Wilhelm Coal Mine 〉

It was a place where prisoners did forced labor.

And it was a place that was heavily rumored to be vicious and brutal because the workload was unusually high.

‘If His Grace was his usual self, he wouldn’t have picked Wilhelm.’

He must have gotten very angry due to the matter of the ducal lady.

‘In any case, he’s still not being honest.’

As Graham’s lips drew a subtle curve, the duke’s expression crumpled.

“Why do you have that look?”

“Sir? What look?”

“That expression of yours. It’s making my mood sour.”

“Hoho, Your Grace must be mistaken. Anyway, I’ll be taking care of it as you have ordered.”

Graham answered calmly and was about to leave the office, but then.

“Wait.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Look into whether that scoundrel had conned anyone else. And if there are any records left…”

His blue eyes glinted coldly.

“Make him pay them back as well. With interest.”

* * *

Within a few days, one particular trend was starting to get popular around the empire’s capital.

It was called, ‘Hargan Capture.’

And it all started with the Brietta Duchy’s proclamation of a bounty.

People started getting interested because the duke personally issued this decree, and to top it all off, the reward he offered was a staggering 200 million shillings.

This was a clear sign that he wanted that criminal caught no matter what.

And considering how the duke was taking things this far…

‘What in the world did the guy do.’

The nobles clicked their tongues, but nevertheless, they rolled up their sleeves anyway and set off to find Hargan.

But it wasn’t for the money.

The duke was such a prominent figure that winning his favor was a reward in itself, and only for the cost of catching that guy and bringing him in front of the duke.

In short, the nobles saw this as a fantastic opportunity to build connections with the number one ducal household of the empire.

‘I’m coming to get you, Hargan…!’

The nobles all dove headfirst into the search for Hargan for the sake of building connections with the duke. And as for the commoners, on the other hand, were all greatly motivated by the reward of 200 million shillings.

And so went on the trend, which encompassed both nobles and commoners alike, and all the people shouted, ‘I’m gonna find you, Hargan!’

The search for Hargan had blown up so much that all the big and small crimes he had accumulated so far were all revealed.

As a result, when it was revealed that Hargan was actually worse than everyone thought, he was then deemed as the ‘nation’s sinner.’

* * *

〈 The nation’s sinner, Hargan?! Finally caught! 〉

[ The sinner amongst all sinners had finally been arrested after one brave citizen of the empire had reported his whereabouts.

Hargan, 24, was immediately captured at the scene as he was attempting to flee to another country.

He shed tears and said, ‘The worst mistake I’ve ever made in my life was approaching House Brietta.’ After his trial, Hargan was set to immediately be shipped off to Wilhelm.

Meanwhile, the reward of 200 million shillings would be paid to the brave citizen of the empire who had reported the criminal. ]

“Whoa, 200 million shillings?”

I was incredulous when I saw what’s written on the paper’s front page.

The headlining article featured how Hargan was captured, but really, what caught my eye more was the line written at the bottom: the fact that the bounty on the guy’s head was 200 million shillings.

‘This world’s currency is about the same as the Korean won in my previous life, so…’

I can’t believe it’s 200 million won.

It’s like winning the dang lottery.

I clicked my tongue with envy.

I’d have been much more comforted if I was given that money instead of it being used as a reward for someone else.

Especially with the mission I’m on right now.

〈 Hidden Mission! : Let’s collect donations! 〉

This was the new mission that I got last night. No, to be more precise, it was early this morning.

Actually, I wasn’t sure when exactly this mission came up.

When I opened my eyes this morning, the mission got automatically accepted because I woke up to the system message already telling me that 〈 The selection time has passed. 〉

I was so annoyed that I was in sheer disbelief.

No matter how conscience-less this system was, don’t spring a mission while I’m still asleep!

Sighing heavily, I checked the mission details.

However, right after I read the content…

〈 Hidden Mission! : Let’s collect donations!

– Please collect donations and give them to the temple! You will be compensated with a 〈 110% share 〉 of all donations as coins!

– If you reach a certain amount, your reputation points will rise!

※ Coins can be exchanged ‘legally’ into real currency. ( 1 coin = 1 shilling )

※ Donating the exchanged money back is not allowed. (No cheating!)

( YES / I really wanna do it ♥ ) 〉

‘Hm. Not bad, actually.’

Seeing that the mission details weren’t all that bad, I felt relieved. No, actually, I’m satisfied.